


Rhythmically playing the strings like a violin (like a heart)

by Taniushka12



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff, Kissing, Rain, Sasha James Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27124411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taniushka12/pseuds/Taniushka12
Summary: When everything was a big play what did it mean to kiss the puppeteer? What vile motivation could Sasha have? In what way could that possibly affect the bigger picture!?Annabelle hasn't figure it out yet. But sometimes, a girl just wants to kiss another girl.
Relationships: Annabelle Cane/Sasha James
Comments: 7
Kudos: 10





	Rhythmically playing the strings like a violin (like a heart)

**Author's Note:**

> I have an au very dear to me that starts with Annabelle saving Sasha before the Not Them could kill her and then leaving her unconscious on like an hotel or smth, with enough money and a fake ID to not die bc she still got replaced by Not Sasha, and seeing how nobody seems to know who she is and there's someone else living at her house Sasha starts tracking down Annabelle on her own, eventually getting to her and deciding to stay w/ her for some time seeing how Annabelle is the only one who knows whats up.
> 
> It starts adamant and vaguely antagonistic but they become lowkey friends and then maybe......... lovers.........

To pull, to be pulled, to move under the strings, to be the one pulling them, to control, to be controlled. Annabelle understood that tug-o-war intimately because that was her life, that was everything she knew even before she began to understand it. A little more, a little less, that was it, that was all.

It was... interesting to say the least to see her say otherwise. _Sasha._ She _knew_ she was most likely sent by Elias to die, she _knew_ she was saved and brought to safety simply to become another piece of the puzzle, a pawn essentially, a joker, she knew that because she told her so under questioning so many months ago, years even, and yet she refused to see it. Her friend saw it, her friend feared her taunting about free will, and yet she choose to close her eyes. It was... weird.

It wasn't like they didn't talk about it. Sasha was a bit rowdier than she thought she would be, openly questioning the subtlety of her actions and the world around them. It was... charming, at times. (At times, where it wasn't stem because of Annabelle's entire worldview.) Other times Sasha would just look at her intensely before indignantly spinning on her heels to do whatever she was doing before, emphasizing how she still believed herself to be right, it was...

It was...

Annabelle didn't know what it was.

Against all odds, conversations with her were both fun at best, and weirdly tense at worst. Uncomfortable in some ways that she couldn't quite place.

That evening in particular they were sitting at the steps of the stairs of the abandoned place they were staying, rain pouring down mere feet below them where there was no roof to protect it and listening the low rumble of distant thunder. Annabelle smelled the air, recalling old memories of dark afternoons at the beach, while she and Sasha got wrapped again on a small debate about the world they were living in.

(Sasha liked debating, she found out not long before meeting her in person, and she didn't like to be given inconsistent answers, as the Distortion usually did or she liked giving) (It was fun, the look on her face when she was being purposefully ominous, Annabelle liked it)

Long minutes were spent there, scraps of their dinner forgotten on the floor, feeling her leg pressed against hers after she decided to sit a few steps above her and Sasha deciding they were going to talk as equals (as if Annabelle didn't know Sasha would be the one sitting two steps above if she herself sat down first). Talking about... Stuff. Annabelle couldn't remember anymore as the subject changed every now and then, and the warmth of her body besides her was so jarring feeling the so accustomed cold at the edge of her space.

—Do you **really** believe everything that happens is out of manipulation?

Annabelle scoffed, amused by the oversimplification and by Sasha's attempt at throwing her off her rhythm.

—That's not what I said.

—Isn't it, thought? That everything happens for a reason, that some _thing_ is out there… planning our steps and so on. Isn't that what you've been saying to me?

—That's not the point.

—Then what is it?

_There's always something._

She lightly traced the scars on Sasha's face, the one left by the Thing from I Do Not Know You. Thunder cracked in the distance. Sasha looked back at her with all the intensity of the world.

—When I drove that monster away I fully intended to use you back later. — _Isn't that proof enough? To believe there's always something that wants to use you? Harm you?_

—So you say.

—Hm?

—You always say that, you know, it's been years and I haven't seen you do anything nefarious to me or with me.

—Maybe it's just not the time. —To that, she laughed, a dry little thing.

—Honestly, I think you just don't know what to do with me. Admit it. Yes, sure, you did that to have a _variable_ you could put at any time but now that I'm here you don't know what to do. Actually... —And she picked her hand, not quite holding it as their fingers intertwined awkwardly. Her eyebrows curved with an old mockery and something else she couldn't pick up, mouth smiling smug yet cautious—... I think you even like me.

Annabelle laughed, careful to not disturb their joined hands. Ridiculous...

—That wouldn't change anything, you know?

—Wouldn't it?

—No.

The water falling harder on the steps ahead was now bouncing and lightly falling on her feet. She felt her own toes wriggling at the sensation, the cold of the rain easier to bare than the dark eyes of the woman in front of her. Two black holes trying to suck every meaning of her words, her face, her actions, to pull them apart and understand them. It was as dangerous as beautiful to be at the edge of such, but good thing Sasha wasn't a black hole nor a sun, not yet at least.

—Do you really mean that?

She asked, then, quieter yet firmer, and Annabelle considered how easy would be to say _Maybe I don’t. You’re right. I would never hurt you. We’re practically friends. Trust me._ And then considered how she wouldn't fall for something as stupid as that. Maybe she should say it then, Sasha was smart after all. But for some reason something on her demeanour made her want to tell the truth. Maybe the Eye was getting stronger on her. Maybe...

Sasha let go of her hand, and it fell limp on the step above as if her strings were cut.

—Do you think everything **I** do is also for a, an overarching reason? —Sasha asked again, a shift on her eyes. Annabelle raised an eyebrow.

—Probably.

—Really?

—Yeah.

—Fine.

Annabelle didn't have time to be surprised at the small and probably only win of their conversation, when she felt Sasha's lips press firmly against hers for just a second. The sound of the rain became white noise as she felt her lips tingling with warmth, and her heart made a funny drop just then. When Sasha pulled back she kept herself as close as possible without letting her lips actually touch again, and wasn't that a funny thing to notice?

—Why would I do that, then?

—What?

—How would that help your web? Or the Institute, for that matter? Do you think I did that to accomplish _something_ in the _big scheme of things?_ —After a few seconds Annabelle opened her mouth, and Sasha frowned, pressing her index against it—. Do Not say "probably".

Swallowing, Annabelle felt not for the first time like she was a fly on a giant web, for a second. Then she felt the warmth of her hand lightly touching her face, and her even breath against her lips, and their legs pressed together and... it was frustrating. She really didn't understand, didn't she? It didn't matter if she didn't understood it now, it was probably going to play a part later. Little puzzle pieces that eventually created a picture, everything they did play a part...

But...

—Can you say something? —Looking at her, then, Annabelle noticed the way her dark cheeks got a tad darker as her face felt warmer than before, and it took her a second to realize Sasha was _embarrassed._ Her glasses fogging a bit and she couldn't help the twist at the edge of her mouth.

—I...

—Yes? — _What do you want?_

She considered weighing the pros and cons of their actions then when a lighting strike illuminated their faces for a second, steering a silence that neither of them dared to break, and finally hearing the coming thunder break above them. A shiver ran down her spine as the rain fell crisp and cold over the steps, and Annabelle wondered if it always fallen like that or it just happened now, but her thoughts stopped when Sasha got a bit closer, blowing hot air on her hands and pressing them back and forth on her arms to create friction, to create warmth.

When she looked up again a knot rose on Annabelle's throat, taking a shuddery breath to ease it down. She tried feeling any of the cords that she knew were on her own person and felt nothing, she wondered if that had something to do with the fact that she was then stuck in place. Aimless. She briefly wondered if Sasha could already do something to her.

Eventually, thought, only when Sasha pulled back she was able to speak, cold quickly rising to meet her face and bask every feeling of intimacy that still painted her skin.

—...Could… Could you do that again?

It took her a moment, but when Sasha smiled small dimples marked her flushed cheeks and Annabelle felt herself smiling at the relieved sight. It was... cute.

—Thought you'd never ask.

She would have to wonder what any of it meant, her surprisingly tender hands holding her face as if it were something cherished, the way she kissed with a knowing smile as if she had won an argument, her own heart drumming on her ribcage with every graze of her skin against hers. She would have to wonder in what exactly any of that would culminate.

And, just for a second, if it would be such a bad place to end up in.

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing Annabelle! I think she deserves some fluff and also to feel like she's not being puppeteered all the time!! And Sasha Always deserves some fluff on my book u_u
> 
> Hope you liked it!!


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